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A blog dedicated to the archaeology of Jess Franco's films and discussion of cult, arthouse, classic, genre and sometimes mainstream films from around the world. Send your reviews to the new email posted below and I will post them or comment below each blog. BLOG CREATED, MODERATED AND EDITED BY ROBERT MONELL: Est. July 2006. The written content of all posts (excepting quotes from reviews, books, other publications) COPYRIGHT ROBERT MONELL and the authors.CONTACT: renegovar@yahoo.comArt Direction/Blog Design: Kimberly Lindbergs

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CINEMADROME is an offshoot of this blog: hosted by yuku for further public discussions of Jess Franco films, European Trash Cinema, Giallo films, Fantastique, Horror cinema from around the world, B movies, International Arthouse cinema, Expanded cinema, Hollywood classics, new and vintage DVD reviews, my online cinema diary, place for rants and general reflections on movies, culture, Chat Topics and much more...Special illustrated essays, videos, images & new DVD/ VIDEO reviews will be added regularly regarding films from all genres.

Other Directors

31 May, 2008

This is the last day of May 2008, the month which marked the 10th anniversary of the death of the legendary singer/actor Frank Sinatra in May 1998. I'm reminded of a tribute paid to him by Jess Franco in one of his films where a character is heard singing one of his biggest hits.

What Frank Sinatra song was this and what was the name of the film? Extra points if you can name the performer who sang the song in the film and the name of the character that performer played.

[Jess Franco's much maligned 1992 edit of the Welles project finally has an US DVD release in sight and can now be pre-ordered. Hopefully this release will actually happen this coming August 19th, barring any legal rights complications. I'll be especially interested in the video/sound quality, which on Spanish R2 DVD is very poor. The Spanish DVD is titled DON QUIJOTE DE ORSON WELLES, which is the onscreen title. Robert Monell]

(a.k.a. ROLAND, L'HOMME LE PLUS SEXY DU MONDE; LE JOUISSEUR; DER SEX PLAYBOY)A wealthy ex-playboy, Count Roland (Fred Williams) tires of married life to the sex guide magnate Barbara and decides to return to his old ways. He poses as a butler and becomes a servant to rich and beautiful women, but many complications ensue.

The title of this sly comedy of manners indicates Franco wanted to infuse this amusing trifle with a sense of irony. Roland may be handsome but as played by Williams behaves like a run-of-the-mill male model, albeit with a little more humor and liveliness than this usually dull actor musters in his other Francos roles from this period. Franco aims for the tone of a Howard Hawks screwball comedy, but verbal humor, not physical comedy, is more his forté. And as the only available videos on the U.S. mail-order circuit are in French, those unfamiliar with that language will miss the satiric barbs at male chauvinism and bourgeois arrogance.

As Roland's pudgy, mischievous manservant Malou, Bigotini, a familiar Franco actor who often worked as his assistant, just about steals the show from Williams. Most of the footage follows Roland as he seduces and is seduced by various women, and in an especially amusing scene, tries to avoid the advances of one husband who also happens to like men.

The cinematography looks unfocused, under lit and out of control (it may be my print)and the lack of any action other than sexual may bore those who are not Franco enthusiasts. One long sequence endlessly inter cuts Roland taking a literal roll-in-the-hay with Lina Romay. As usual, Franco does manage to find some interesting cubist/impressionist influenced compositions amidst the reckless mise en scene, like the opening credits sequence which examines the leafy canopy overlooking the boulevards of Paris from a skewed angle.

Reading the above after nearly a decade I will comment that although this film is very carelessly made and obviously done without adequate planning or budget, it does have its merits for the dedicated: a jazzy, catchy score by Andre Benichou gives the action a much needed boost; Harrison is just fine in the lead, imparting the right ironic tone and the handheld camerawork (the entire film appears to have been made without benefit of a tripod!) does manage a few coups amid the flurry of non-stop telezooms, like the sudden zoom into a Parisian movie marquee for Franco's 1972 LES ERANLESS (see the review here by typing the title into the blog's search engine) during a delirious tour of the Paris red light district shot from a moving car! And Bigotini flying over the rooftops of Paris checking out female sunbathers in his helicopter is priceless as is the ending in which a scruffy looking film crew suddenly appears, complete with cheap looking equipment and portable camera, shooting Roland and his wife as they take another roll in the way before zooming into the slate "A PHALLUS PRODUCTION: THE WORLD'S SEXIEST COUPLE"!

Although we don't want to take the comparison too far, LE JOUISSEUR can be seen as a way down-market anticipation of Francois Truffaut's THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN and certain Woody Allen films of that era.

Here is the schedule from their site. Most of the titles will be projected in 35mm if all goes as planned. I'm especially interested in the run times for such titles as LA COMTESSE PERVERSE (72m; that would make it the shortest version, possibly Franco's original before Robert De Nesle forced him to add the comic framing scenes with Lina Romay and Caroline Riviere and some hardcore scenes; Alain Petit told me that this is the best version and a rarity, and 90m for EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN, the longest listed run time of which I'm aware.) Hopefully, there will be some revelations here and it should be an interesting way to spend this coming June and July. See you in Paris!

[It looks like Jess Franco's controversial version of Orson Welles' legendary unfinished project is finally going to get a US DVD presentation. No word on any extras but there has been some speculation on the wellesnet forum where I've been involved in a discussion about Franco and his involvement with Welles' CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1965) and DON QUIXOTE. Some fans and most Welles scholars are very unhappy about what Franco did in post-production with the footage. But I think it's more good news than bad that it's getting a DVD release here. The footage Franco was given to work with was in very poor condition and I don't know if anything has been done to improve the results.]

17 May, 2008

John Phillip Law had a special talent for projecting a youthful masculinity with an other-worldly edge, especially in his roles as the blind angel in Vadim's BARBARELLA and the mysterious costumed fumetti super villain in Mario Bava's DIABOLIK. I remember first seeing him in THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING during its initial 1966 theatrical run when my parents took me to it because it seemed like a clean-cut comedy alternative to the horror movies I had been obsessively seeking out. Several years later I managed to catch BARBARELLA at the drive-in (definitely not a "family values" movie) and and he seemed to be sprinkled with superstar dust as he flew away with Jane Fonda. If he never achieved that status he was certainly what could probably be called a "cult" actor whose striking presence would front European genre films during the 70s and 80s in between supporting roles in mainstream US films.

I'm choosing to salute him on his passing last Tuesday with this brief appreciation and lurid video cover box for my favorite of his film performances, his out-of-the-park hit as the demented Van Gogh-obsessed painter Charles Saint-Simone in Sergio Bergonzelli's 1988 BLOOD DELIRIUM (DELIRIO SANGUE). This is a jaw dropping blending of LUST FOR LIFE, COLOR ME BLOOD RED with such value-added extras as necrophilia, human-flesh eating dogs, ghosts and Gordon Mitchell doing things you've never seen him do in his other European roles. Law is joyously over-the-top and you just can't keep from smiling while watching him let it rip as the mad artist who daubs human blood on his canvases with a lusty passion. He really seems to be enjoying himself in this classic of European Trash cinema. I wonder if he would want it to be remembered. But I remember it and how much I enjoyed him in it and always enjoyed his committed intensity in whatever film he happened to be in.

If you ever get a chance to catch BLOOD DELIRIUM (outside of grey market videos/DVD-Rs it has had a legit release on any US video format as far as I know, although there was a Greek video around) don't hesitate to indulge yourself. It's the kind of outre, under the radar Italian horror film which bobbed to the surface decades after it was made to the delight of connoisseurs of the truly bizarre.

I would also like to see another obscure JPL film, the 1977 Italian thriller L'OCCHIO DIETRO LA PARETE, which also doesn't seem to be out on US video. If anyone knows of any English language video versions available of this please note it in the comment area.

16 May, 2008

The immortal Eddie Constantine in his signature role of Secret Agent Lemmy Caution pursues Anna Karina in Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 science fiction/noir/Eurospy classic, ALPHAVILLE. One of the templates for ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS...

Here's one of my archived reviews of Jess Franco's delightful 1966 Europsy spoof CARTES SUR TABLE, a French-Spanish co production featuring the legendary singer-actor Eddie Constantine. I've only seen it via a dub of a Video Yesteryear video (from an ancient, battered 16mm source) in its US English language export version, ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS. That version seems to be cut and the English language translation omits/obscures numerous Franco homages and in-jokes.

Here's hoping for a deluxe Eurospy double bill DVD of the two Eddie Constantine Eurospy adventures Franco made in 1966, CARTAS BOCCA ARRIBA and the more serious, sober RESEDENCIA PARA ESPIAS, in OAR, from good original elements and with multiple language track options.

(a.k.a. CARTAS BOCA ARRIBA; CARTES SUR TABLE; KARTEN AUF DEN TISCH; JAMES CLINT SFIDA INTERPOL)Retired secret agent Al Pereria (Eddie Constantine) is called to action by his former employers to investigate the worldwide disappearance of people who share the Rhesus-0 blood type. One of the victims, musician Yves Barriel, is subsequently spotted on a beach in Alicante, Spain. Pereria arrives there as unsuspecting bait for the kidnappers, having been used by both his employers and Chinese agents as a means to infiltrate and destroy a secret group of politicians, scientists, and killers. Pereria learns these terrorists use an army of brainwashed assassins, controlled by radio signals via electronic receivers implanted in eyeglasses.Pereria finds Barriel. A fight ensues and Al ends up with the glasses, which leads him to a seaside villa which is the headquarters of the scientist (Fernando Rey) who created the robots. Lady Cecilia Addington (Franciose Brion) attempts to seduce Al, but is killed by Rey. Then all hell breaks loose, as the robots turn on their creator as the Chinese attack the villa.

ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS is a Spanish-French co-production made by the same creative team responsible for THE DIABOLICIAL DR Z (1965). Both movies were given a tremendous boost by the imaginative screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere (who had worked for the great Luis Bunuel on many of his French productions). This perhaps explains the sarcastic French-style humor in ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS, which differentiates this from the more slapstick orientation of Franco's later Eurospy efforts (such as LUCKY THE INSCRUTABLE and KISS ME MONSTER). For instance, the opening assassination scenes include the murder of an ambassador and then a high church official, scenes that are staged with a slightly absurd, surreal touch which anticipates similar scenes found in future Carriere-Bunuel projects, THE MILKY WAY (1968) and THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972).

ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS, though, is not an art house film in any sense of the term. It was Franco's attempt to establish himself as a commercial contender in the action-picture sweepstakes. The results are charmingly naive by today's standards, and the film was probably too dingy-looking (the low budget really shows) to make a dent in the international exploitation market, which was already glutted with spy movies.Franco's producers apparently prevented him from making the action more sexy and violent, and the US ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS edits out some tame nudity. Also, the undistinguished black-and-white cinematography gives the film a flat, unappealing look (or it must may be the video of old 16mm print I've seen). Compare it to the bright, comic book-style frames of the eye-popping LUCKY THE INSCRUTABLE, filmed the following year.

Despite its flaws, ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS is one of the director's most consistently entertaining romps, due to the always droll Eddie Constantine, as well as above-average performances by Fernando Rey and Franciose Brion as the villains. They are enormously helpful in maintaining suspension of disbelief in light of the sometimes tacky sets and awkward action scenes. (Al's escape from Lee Wee's opium den is a typical, clumsily-filmed example. But it's a Jess Franco film and we expect confusion and technical mistakes, don't we.)

There are some neat science fiction sequences, briskly staged on obviously cut-rate but imaginative sets, involving the creation of the robots using a giant test tube thing charged with electricity. This device proves especially handy to our hero during the hecticly rendered final showdown. Jazz fans will find the big-band style score of Paul Misraki a warm bath of nostalgia.

RESENDENCIA PARA ESPIAS, another 1966 Eddie Constantine vehicle, which brought Franco to Istanbul for location shooting for the first, but not last, time, is also highly recommended. It's out on a watchable Spanish language DVD from DIVISA.

Many happy returns to Jess Franco on his birthday and may he have many more and give us many more of his special movies. After over 200 films, counting alternate versions, he's still in the midst of intensive production activities in his native Spain. Thanks for the memories, Jess. Here's a look at him and his films over the years...

10 May, 2008

Have any of our Spanish or European blog readers acquired/seen this DVD? I'm curious about the exact content. Is this the 1974 EXORCISM/EXORCISME ET MESSE NOIRES* or the 1979 remix EL SADICO DE NOTRE DAME aka DEMONIAC (edited US variant, released by WIZARD VIDEO)? It could possibly be the hardcore variant, SEXORCIME (1975). This is not the Spanish Manga DVD, EL SADICO DE NOTRE DAME, which is the 1979 composite of EXORCISM with new scenes involving Jess Franco's character added. Or could this be yet another, unique cut?

Also any reports on technical specs/video/audio quality would be welcome. The artwork is rather fascinating and I've never seen any version packaged this way or under this title.

08 May, 2008

A review with a vintage fotobusta for the 1969 Edoardo Mulargia Spaghetti Western SHANGO, LA PISTOLA INFALLIBILE is now up on CINEMADROME, just click on the link at the top of the sidebar at left and go to the most recent post on the 100 SELECT EUROWESTERNS folder.

Quiz Question: What did Jess Franco say in an interview about the prospect of directing Anthony Steffen in a Eurowestern? [Hint: He wasn't a Steffen fan]

03 May, 2008

DAS BILDNIS DER DORIANA GRAY/DIE MARQUISE DE SADE/DIRTY DRACULA/EJACULATIONS:SWITZERLAND/WG-1976, 76m.I'm still looking for the non-hardcore version of this which Francesco Cesari says he has seen. I think this film would work a whole lot better without the distraction of the closeups mechanics of all that just as LA COMTESSE NOIRE (1973) works best without the hardcore footage, which really drags it out and down.

As with LA COMTESSE NOIRE Franco made this film as a hardcore female vampire film with the main character sucking the "essential liquids" from her victims and also as a version without the XXX action inserts. But I don't know of any version of DORIANA GRAY which has traditional vampire scenes of the main character sucking blood from her victims, as the EROTIKILL version of LA COMTESSE NOIRE has. This version was distributed by Force Video in the mid 1980s in the US and lasts just over 75 minutes and is cropped at 1.33:1, which takes much of its impact away.

Many critics have complained about the numerous out of focus shots and seeming technical "errors" in LA COMETESS..., like Lina Romay bumping into the camera lens during the credits sequence. But I find these moments part of the film's uniquely dreamlike quality. To paraphrase the late Henri Langlois, sometimes Franco's failings become his greatest strengths.

It opens with one of the most stunning images in Franco's extensive filmography and justs get better as it goes along. An almost dialogue-free film the impressionistic and low level sound mix is very appropriate to the theme. DORIANA GRAY tells the same story as LA COMTESSE NOIRE with the same characters but in a slightly different key. An lonely female vampire leading a life of quiet desperation in lavishly appointed isolation. Adding a Conradian "secret sharer" in Doriana's torment, her twin sister, separated at birth, who suffers hidden away in the clinic of Dr. Orloff. First seen in a mirror sing songing a macabre nursery rhyme Doriana's twin is one of Franco's most haunting creations, a pathetic creature, a sexually addicted victim of her predatory sister's erotic experiences. She thrashes about having the climaxes denied to Doriana, who telepathically, or somehow, transfers the orgasms to her imprisoned sister who is almost always seen either sexually stimulating herself in between Doriana's transmissions.

It's a world without love, only compulsive sexual behavior, frustration and screaming release for the sister. Punctuated by the cries of birds and set to the minimalist sitar score of Walter Baumgartner the film is clinical, remote and deeply disturbing. The reduced, but luminous, color scheme which lights the way to world of shadows is rigorously explored by Franco's drunken camera.

Designed in slate greys and eye popping pinks (Doriana's see-through robe), set within a castle perched above a jungle (Portugal, probably), much of the run time is taken up with Franco zooming in to study the architecture of the estate. The endless rains pour from the mouths of gargoyles onto the hard tile floors of the mansion while Doriana slowly walks through pillared patios and down long, mysterious hallways to her next deadly assignation. Like Irina Von Karlstein she dies in private bath evoking the last lines of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land." It works as unique version of Wilde's THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, while evoking Ingmar Bergman's THE SILENCE and Kieslowski's THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE.

Having re watched the 2003 VIP DVD from producer Dietrich's ELITE FILMS, taken from original camera negs and superbly restored, I find it somewhat technically flawed with some motion glitches, unless there's been a replacement transfer since then.The English language track grates due to distracting voice casting. I do wish for a new English subtitled NTSC disc which ideally would contain both the non-hardcore version as well as the XXX one.

1976 was a rather amazing years for Jess Franco in that he managed to turn out three of his best films, all in different genres (erotic vampire; nunsploitation; gore/true-crime thriller) and styles: DORIANA GRAY, LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE NUN and JACK, THE RIPPER.